Ontario Parties: Who is the Greenest Of Them All?

It is the silly season just before the writ is dropped for the fall election in Ontario, Canada's most populous province with over 12 million people. It is also a big place, so the leaders pump out a lot of greenhouse gas getting around. Not much debate up here about climate change, so all of the parties are competing to prove how green they are. The two Liberal buses will run on ultra-low-sulphur diesel, which they say drastically cuts smog-causing emissions. The Conservatives are running on biodiesel. The New Democrats are dumping the bus for a hybrid SUV. "This might be a little less convenient than a bus," NDP Leader Howard Hampton told the Star "but I think I can sacrifice convenience and reduce the carbon footprint by 24 tonnes." Green Party leader Frank de Jong will tour the province in a biodiesel vehicle, while also campaigning largely on public transit and on a bicycle. The Liberals and New Democrats will also buy carbon credits to each offset about 600 tonnes of carbon dioxide, to account for electricity and energy used in their candidates' offices and the leaders' headquarters and travel.

"We're running a carbon-neutral campaign to do our part in the fight against climate change, and because it's important for all of us to recognize individual efforts matter," Premier Dalton McGuinty said in a written statement yesterday. ::The Star